YOU BE THE JUDGE WRITING PROBLEM Jerome Schneider wrote several books on how to avoid taxes. These books were sold on Amazon.com. Amazon permits visitors to post comments about items for sale. Amazon’s policy suggests that these comments should be civil

(e.g., no profanity or spiteful remarks). The comments about Schneider’s books were not so kind. One person alleged Schneider was a felon.

When Schneider complained, an Amazon representative agreed that some of the postings violated its guidelines and promised that they would be removed within one to two business days. Two days later, the posting had not been removed. Schneider filed suit. Argument for Schneider: Amazon has editorial discretion over the posted comments: It both establishes guidelines and then monitors the comments to ensure that they comply with the guidelines.

These activities make Amazon an information content provider, not protected by the Communications Decency Act. Argument for Amazon: The right to edit material is not the same thing as creating the material in the first place.